Can anyone tell me the origins of this song? It seems Django didn’t record it but there is a recording by Oscar Aleman from Paris, March 9 1939.
it’s just that it seems to be part of the repertoire. Did it arrive before Oscar, when was it written, who wrote it and who popularised it? TIA
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Internet research reveals that "Joseph Joseph" is an adaption of the yiddish song "Yosel", written by Nellie Casman and Samuel Steinberg. Nellie Casman recorded the song in 1923:
The Andrews Sisters recorded the song as "Joseph Joseph" in 1938, the new lyrics were written by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin:
Maybe this is the Oscar Aleman version you mentioned:
Django recorded a contrafact on Yosl Yosl, but he's changed it to a major key and called it Django's Tiger ;)
Thanks a lot guys. The main problem was that I don’t know who wrote it; the label on the above record proved useful and led me to this site. Interesting that it was seemingly re-written by several others in the ‘30s!
https://secondhandsongs.com/work/175004/all#work-175004
Btw, if you like some ‘yearning’ in your music, I’ve found the perfect record: Connie Francis sings…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A5pKtmvsQfM&t=149s&pp=2AGVAZACAQ%3D%3D
During the Third Reich in Germany there were several parodistic versions of the lyrics, ridiculing Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.
Hey Wim, I thought Django's Tiger was his variation of Tiger Rag???
Contrafact. Good word!